To monitor the availability of a distributed server system, the operating states of processes operating on individual servers are monitored.
The operation of defining setting information indicating the details of operation for monitoring (hereinafter referred to as “monitoring setting information”) is complicated.
In an environment in which the number of apparatuses monitored by a monitoring apparatus is large and an environment in which monitored processes in operation in monitored apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as “monitoring-target processes”) vary from one monitored apparatus to another, in particular, when the individual monitored apparatuses take charge of a plurality of sections, checking, documenting, and defining all monitoring setting information completely, and continuing to maintain and reflect the information exert a heavy work load and difficulty on a person at the monitoring apparatus side in charge of integrated monitoring of the monitored apparatuses. Furthermore, this forces also a person at the monitored apparatus side to perform frequent coordination and connection with the person at the monitoring apparatus side. That is, this increases the number of person hours and loads on both the person at the monitoring apparatus side and the person at the monitored apparatus side, resulting in omission and detection error in monitoring.
It is difficult to synchronize a service life cycle and a monitoring-setting-information changing operation.
As a service provided by a monitored apparatus is added, changed, and deleted, data and a process in the monitored apparatus, which directly support the service, are also changed as a matter of course. At that time, if the process is to be monitored, the monitoring apparatus that executes integrated monitoring needs to perform the operation of changing the monitoring setting information and the operation of updating a document related to the monitoring. These operations are required for every addition, change, and deletion of a service. If these operations are repeated, the load of the operation maintenance work increases. If the change timing differs between the monitored apparatus side and the monitoring apparatus side, omission and detection error in monitoring will occur.
Information for use in acquiring the operating state of a monitoring-target process is fixed.
Optimum information for use in acquiring the operating state, for example, an optimum method for use in acquiring the operating state, sometimes differs depending on the monitoring-target process. An example is a case where a dedicated command for checking the operating state of a specific middle ware process is provided, and higher monitoring accuracy may be provided by using the dedicated command. However, because the known monitoring methods cannot change the operating-state acquisition method depending on the monitoring-target process, it is necessary to add a separate monitoring function to use the dedicated command. Furthermore, the known monitoring methods cannot change the operation to be executed and notification information depending on the monitoring-target process when anomaly of the operating state is detected.